Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Department of
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
First Advisor
Cody S. Stolle
Committee Members
Andrew Loken, Joshua Steelman
Date of this Version
12-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College at the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science
Major: Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
Under the supervision of Professor Cody S. Stolle
Lincoln, Nebraska, December 2025
Abstract
The road network leading up to a United States military base is known as an Entry Control Facility, or ECF. Entry control facilities are used to shield military installations by monitoring vehicles and refusing access to unauthorized vehicles. Passive control devices, including speed tables, are used to disrupt or delay threat vehicles attempting to navigate ECFs at high speeds. The purpose of this research was to recommend optimized configurations of speed tables in combination with roadway curves which allow safe, efficient traversal for authorized vehicles and disruption or delay for threat vehicles.
First, an analytical model of a Tesla Model Y was developed and calibrated with accurate weight, inertia, suspension properties, and engine power models and comparing to level-terrain performance and handling tests. Next, a previously developed Ford Crown Victoria model and the newly developed Model Y model were used to investigate speed table spacing on various curves and recommend an optimized spacing and layout condition. To compare results and determine optimized layouts, a Critical Speed Table Calculator (CSTC) was developed to identify the conditions in which a threat vehicle could traverse three consecutive speed tables on a curve in the least time and with the lowest lateral path disruption. Additionally, research evaluated a “standard” speed table spacing configuration that balanced recommendations across multiple speed and curve combinations. Research also investigated the design, manufacturing, and testing of expeditionary speed tables. In this secondary research effort, simulation and design work were conducted to create a lowweight, surface mounted speed tables with segmented partitions.
Based on simulation results, a robust suite of speed table installation recommendations was assembled for curve radii spanning from 150 ft to 3000 ft. This included recommendations for radius-controlled speed table spacings, speed-controlled speed table spacing, and a uniform speed table spacing recommendation. Recommended speed table spacing ranged from 67 ft to 199 ft based on curve radius or desired limiting speed. Uniform speed table spacings ranged from 77 ft for curves under 400 ft, 83 ft spacing for curves 450 ft to 750 ft, and 90 ft spacing for curve larger than 750 ft. These configurations create a threat vehicle delay from 2 s to 5 s at their most critical threat case, and cause vehicle disruption or rollover at speeds greater than their most critical case. It has also been concluded that expeditionary/portable speed tables can take the place of reinforced concrete speed tables based on simulation and testing. Multiple speed tables on a curve were determined to be an effective measure to mitigate threat vehicles when installed in ECFs. Future simulation work is recommended to explore additional unique combinations of passive threat deterrence assemblies, including combinations of speed tables, chicanes and roundabouts. Manufacturing and live testing is recommended to further confirm the capabilities of the expeditionary speed table design options.
Advisor: Cody S. Stolle
Comments
Copyright 2025, Nathan Reineke. Used by permission